City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
—

District I’s largest league in terms of membership hasn’t held a postseason tournament for all that long - the inaugural SOL Tournament was during the 2014-15 season - and is only in its second year with eight entrants.

The tournament fields consist of the four SOL division winners from the Colonial, Patriot, Liberty and Freedom and four wildcard teams. In the event of a shared division title, the team with the higher District 1 playoff rating assumes the “champion” top-four seed and first-round home game.

Similarly, the four wild cards are chosen from the next four highest District 1 playoff ratings, regardless of classification (for example: a Class 4A team with a 12.356 rating would qualify over a Class 6A team with a 12.253 rating).

The higher seeded teams will host throughout the tournament, including the championship games so there is potential for the boys’ and girls’ titles to be handed out at different venues as happened last year.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s semifinal games:

GIRLS

No. 1 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs No. 5 Abington , 7 p.m.

These teams have met a lot in recent years and it’s probably safe to assume this won’t be their last meeting this season either. As it stands, the season series is tied 1-1 with each team winning on its home floor in a very tight game.PW had to gut another win on Friday, getting a late layup from freshman Kenna Winland to outlast a game CR South squad in the opening round, 49-44. 

Seniors Abby Sharpe (Penn) and Erin Daley have led the way all season, each surpassing 1,000 career points during the regular season and combining for a high percentage of the Colonials’ offense.

Senior guard Angelina Balcer has bounced back after a midseason injury, the Chestnut Hill College basketball/soccer recruit adding a veteran presence on the ball. Freshmen AJ Avery and Winland have found confidence as the season has gone on and the Colonials are certainly playing some of their best ball getting into the heart of February.

Abington won a rematch of last year’s first round getting past an injury-riddled but competitive Upper Moreland side, 61-41.

Cire Worley heads into the final stretch of a brilliant career, the senior UMass-Lowell recruit already having scored more points than anyone else in Abington girls’ basketball history and looks to lead her team to some trophies.

Senior Abril Bowser has been terrific all year, swiping the ball left and right on defense in Abington’s press, knocking down threes and taking people off the dribble. Junior Piper McGinley has emerged as a key contributor, sophomore Maya Johnson holds it down at point and Jordyn Reynolds, Mikaiya Durham and Maura Day each bring a different dimension when they’re on the floor.

No. 2 Souderton vs No. 3 Neshaminy, 3 p.m.
Earlier this season, Neshaminy handed Souderton its only loss in SOL competition and added another marque win to the season resume. That loss, and another to Perk Valley soon after, challenged Souderton and the team responded with five straight wins to end the regular season.

Souderton used its defense and took advantage of its size inside to down Pennridge for a third time - 54-40 - in the opening round on Friday.

Last year’s postseason didn’t end on a great note in districts or states and with four senior starters, that’s the mission for this group. Leading the way is Northwestern-bound point guard Casey Harter, who has gotten better again and just seems to never tire on either end of the floor.

Forward Teya McConnaha seems back to her usual self after finally losing the protective face guard she wore most of January after a facial fracture. Souderton’s calling card is defense, but the Colonial champion will also need a little offensive kick from senior Erin Bohmueller and Mikayla McGillian, plus junior Brooke Fenchel and sophomore Grace McDonough going forward.

Neshaminy finally got one over on Pennsbury - the Falcons having won both regular season meetings - with a 45-33 win in Friday’s first round.. 

Junior Reese Zemitis is a talented three-level scorer, working a little more in the midrange to complement her outside shooting and size inside. Junior guard Lola Ibarrondo is in the midst of a breakout in her second season in Langhorn and senior Taylor Gurysh (Kutztown) does a little bit of everything.

Seniors Lindsay Little and Jess Purdy are excellent floor spacers at guard, giving drivers an outlet while sophomore Aleah Cofield has emerged as a terrific defender and adds a spark on the offensive end

~~~

BOYS

No. 1 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. No. 5 North Penn, 5 p.m.

The Knights and Colonials don’t get together often, so there will be some new looks and new things to consider on each side. Both these teams are quite good offensively, so it could be a pretty entertaining game.

PW looked like it was about to run away with Friday’s first round game, but a gritty Neshaminy team refused to go away and the Colonials held on for a 51-49 win.

Qudire Bennett could probably walk into any gym in the area and already have five or six points before tying his shoes, so giving him the type of supporting cast he has this year has meant a whole lot of buckets to his name. Jaden Colzie, now a junior, is still doing the work at point guard while Chase Coleman has come in and immediately started filling it up in the backcourt.

Lincoln Sharpe - who took last year off to focus on baseball - gives PW good size at 6-foot-5 and gladly does the work like rebounding, screening and passing to let the guards and wings focus on points.

The Knights can go. Early on Friday, they were doing anything but before eventually breaking their slump to down Pennsbury 46-40.

North Penn’s backcourt of Mario Sgro and Norman Gee has blistering speed in the full court part of the game and their quick first steps are hard guard if the game slows to the halfcourt. Teddy McCallister is pretty quick himself and a spark scorer, who can get hot very quickly.

Ryan Zeltt, a Millersville signee at quarterback, is a stretch big while Ryan Deininger is a crafty scorer in the spaces for a Knights squad that’s been putting up some big offensive games with regularity. 

No. 2 CB East vs No. 6 Upper Dublin, 12:30 p.m.
An early-afternoon clash between a top team in Class 6A and a top team in Class 5A starts Saturday’s semifinal slate - pitting a lot of quality guards against each other for two teams that also defend pretty well. UD has players that know how to win, East has players that know how to win, so this figures to be pretty competitive.

East survived a big first half from Matt Campione and Pennridge, getting Jake Cummiskey back from foul trouble and tightening up on defense to claim a 67-61 win on Friday - their third over the Rams this season

The Patriots have one of the strongest backcourts in the league with a senior in Joey Giordano and Cummiskey, only a junior despite it feeling like he’s already had a career’s worth of big games.

Senior Kyle Berndt has owned his role in his first season as a starter while junior Tyler Dandrea has emerged throughout the season for the now three-time defending division champions. It didn’t come in a walk-over either, the Patriots had to find a way to win a couple clutch games but they did so as a group, usually finding the right guy on the right night to get it done.

Upper Dublin made a statement with its first win over William Tennent. Friday’s win was much harder to earn in a high-octane game that saw the Cardinals jump out early and keep in front for a 71-61 win over the Panthers.

When Derek Brooks took over at Upper Dublin this offseason, he knew he had a good team that happened to be loaded with players from a really good football team. Ask any coach though, and they’ll generally want winners and once UD’s football run ended, they came back inside and just kept winning.

Sophomore Ryan Mulroy isn’t a football player and he kept things afloat alongside senior Seaton Kukla, a Juniata recruit in the midst of his best season and three-point ace Brady Fogle until everyone else had their legs back. The Cardinals took off from there, with D-I defensive back DJ Cerisier adding punch on both sides of the ball and Rutgers-bound quarterback and all-SOL point guard Colin O’Sullivan returning from injury right at the end of the regular season to boost an already strong roster.